1. Field of Endeavor
The present disclosure relates to solar power plants, and, more particularly, to a solar receiver arrangement and a support structure.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
A concentrated solar power plant use a solar receiver steam generator located at an elevation of a support tower, where the solar rays are focused for utilizing the solar heat to produce electricity.
Solar receiver steam generators generally include various fluid carrying tubes that are heated by focusing sunrays thereon, in turn heating fluid to be utilized for producing electricity. Grouping and arrangement of tubes and support elements for supporting such grouped and arranged tubes are quite important and critical from the point of view of effectively utilizing heat flux of the sunrays without failure.
For examples, if the support element designs restrict a substantial amount of heat flux, the fluid heating may be affected. Further, if the supporting elements utilize a greater number of components in order to support or attach individual tube or grouped tubes, the chances of developing high local stress at or around attachment regions are high. Furthermore, a greater number of components in the support element, depending upon the grouping and arrangement of the tubes, would be unmanageable from the view of assembly and maintenance.
While previously known support and tube arrangements may have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purposes, there has remained a need in the art for solar receivers that can improve tube and support arrangements to make it substantially more manageable in terms of assembly and maintenance, more exposure to heat flux, and reduction of local stress development.